


Stellaria Media

by A_Atrytone



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Atrytone/pseuds/A_Atrytone
Summary: It is a Saturday morning and Minerva doesn't want to be alone with her thoughts, so she seeks out the comfort of company.
Relationships: Minerva McGonagall & Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	1. I. The Comfort of Company

**I. The Comfort of Company**

It was a late Saturday morning. Minerva McGonagall was walking through the mostly deserted corridors, headed towards the hospital wing. She had spent the first few hours of the day in her own rooms, seated comfortably in an armchair beside an open window, cup of tea in hand and a book on her lap. After a while, though, she had noticed that her thoughts were rather more preoccupied with drifting off than they were with actual reading and had caught herself gazing out of the window absentmindedly. She had found that she desired company, and so had closed her book and left it lying in the armchair for later. 

While walking the corridors she noticed that the absence of the all too familiar hustle of hundreds of chattering students hurrying along the floors between classes left the castle in an almost eerie state of quiet. The only sounds to be heard were the occasional whispering of portraits as she passed by, accompanied by the echoes of her steps.

She turned around a corner and could now make out the door to the hospital wing at the end of the following corridor. The rooms of the hospital wing were located in the eastern parts of the castle, so that now Minerva's steps were caught in some spare September sunlight shining through the row of windows to her left. Her own rooms were still cloaked in shadows at this time of day. 

Minerva quietly opened the great wooden doors and slipped inside. The hospital wing was bathed in the same soft morning light as the corridor behind her, which gave the room a rather calm and serene atmosphere, dust flakes were dancing softly through the air, made visible by the sun. The beds were empty, no student had apparently been made to stay over the weekend and thus the soul of the ward, Poppy Pomfrey, was nowhere to be seen. 

“Poppy?”, Minerva nonetheless called into the quiet of the room.

Silence.

She would probably find her still in her own quarters. It was a Saturday, after all. She turned around and made to leave again, when she heard some steps from behind another door in the ward, which, as she knew, led to Poppy's office. Apparently the office door had been left ajar, because it now opened and out stepped Poppy herself. 

“Minerva!”, she cried out, pleasantly surprised, a quick smile spreading on her face.

The kind of smile that illuminates the eyes, Minerva thought fondly.  
“It's good to see you”, she said, a feeling of tenderness spreading inside her body at the sight of the other woman. “Would you like some tea? I missed your company.” 

Poppy's bright eyes gazed intently at Minerva over the margins of her glasses, her brows just the slightest bit furrowed. “I would very much like to, but I'm afraid I can't right now, I was just on my way to the greenhouses.” She softly put her hand on Minerva's arm. “Is something the matter with you? I can't quite put my finger on it, but you seem a little..”, she tilted her head, in thought, “..melancholic perhaps.” 

Minerva took Poppy's hand in her own and placed a kiss on it. “Bless you, Poppy, truly, for your incredible insight.” 

There was just no way to deceive Poppy Pomfrey about one's personal wellbeing. Not that she hadn't tried in the past, being a somewhat distanced person, even though often involuntarily. She just seemed to require a gentle nudge before opening up and Poppy was a rather merciless nudger.

“But it's nothing particular, I was just feeling a bit lonely. Do you mind, if I walk with you to the greenhouses? What do you want there, anyway?”

“I need some Stellaria media.”

“Stellaria media?”, now it was Minerva's turn to frown, “isn't that a weed?” 

“Well, it is certainly a sturdy plant, but people are so horribly quick with naming something a weed that they can't derive any immediate benefit from. And unjustly so, I might add, because Stellaria media has been well known and used by Healers since ancient times, it has many rather powerful magical properties!”

“ So, what are you saying?”, Minerva asked, a slight smirk on her lips upon seeing Poppy so ardently defending the honour of Chickweed. Wake her enthusiasm and there was hardly anyone whose lecturing rants could match hers. 

“That I need to replenish my stock of Erythropoetic Potions”, she answered, now also grinning, “and Stellaria media contains a lot of iron.”

Minerva laughed out loud, shook her head in amused disbelief and kissed the Healer's hand again.  
“Let's go”, she said, still smiling.


	2. Herbs and Tea Leaves

**II. Herbs and Tea Leaves**

Minerva and Poppy left the hospital wing together and headed through the quiet corridors towards the Entrance Hall. They stepped through the wooden gates and Minerva sighed when she could feel the cool breeze of early September on her face. The sky was now mostly clouded, but the sun still managed to send some fragments of her rays through the iron grey blankets that spoke of coming rain. The wind was blowing some brisk air over the hills and grasses, crinkling the surface of the lake and making the dark trees of the Forbidden Forest moan and bend as it passed over their tops. Within it there still lingered an aftertaste of the waning summer, but soon the scent of winter would take over, the winds would grow more intense and the sun would be a rare sight during the dark scottish winter months.

Poppy meanwhile cursed the wind under her breath and drew her cloak a little tighter as they strolled away from the gates, over the lawn and towards the greenhouses. Minerva watched the wind tousling her hair and leaving little spots of red on her cheekbones. She smiled. Just like herself, Poppy had been living at Hogwarts for many years now. But unlike herself, even after all this time, she quite easily began to feel chilly in the rough weather of northern Scotland, thus giving away her southern England origins. 

Minerva loved this kind of weather, brisk, cold and stormy. She had always felt that it kept her head clear and whenever she needed to recompose her thoughts, she took to long walks. 

“Where does Pomona keep the healing plants?”, Minerva asked.

“That depends. Those that are native to the climate and can be cultivated outside are grown next to the vegetable fields. Plants that usually require warmer weather are kept in the greenhouses.  
Then again, some have to be picked in their natural surroundings, because they need their very specific environment to fully unfold their magical properties. Fortunately, _Stellaria media_ being a weed, as you so kindly put it, its natural surroundings is waysides and acres, so we don't need to take a trip into the Forbidden Forest.”

“Vegetable gardens it is, then?”  
“Precisely.” Poppy pointed towards the edge of the nearest acre. “There, you see? You'll recognise it by its typical ground covering growth. It is an annual perennial plant and will reach a height of about 30 cm. The leaves are of an oval and pointy form and the flowers are formed by the very characteristic deeply-lobed petals.”, she grinned, “I always found them to be almost heart-shaped.” 

Poppy knelt down next to the Chickweed, drew out her wand and began to draw a series of minute patterns into the air. “Before I pluck it, I always perform a spell that checks the exact iron content. It can vary a bit, depending on the season.”

Minerva crouched down into the field next to her. “You're quite the Herbalist, I don't think I was ever fully aware of that.”  
Poppy look up shortly, smiling at Minerva. “Herbal lore is an essential part of Healer training”, she said before resuming her examination, “during the summer months we often had to travel across the counties with our sketchbooks to study and draw the respective native herbs.”

The first raindrop fell from the sky and landed on Minerva's glasses. Then the second one and within a few moments it began to rain. 

Poppy looked up at the sky and frowned. “How about that tea now, Minerva? I happen to know that Pomona keeps some cups in one of the cupboards in the greenhouses.” 

They sat down on a bench inside, each with a steaming cup of tea. Minerva leaned back against the side of the greenhouse. Poppy etched a little closer and rested her head on Minerva's shoulder. She in return extended her arm around the healer and drew their bodies even closer. She shut her eyes and listened to the steady sounds of Poppy's breathing that was almost drowned out by the rain falling against the glass walls and ceiling. It seemed like it would keep raining for a while.


End file.
